The High Priestess & The Emperor
by BackStabber22
Summary: "What do you have to be so angry about?" Tommy asked, blue eyes searching brown. "Absolutely nothing." She smiled up at him. "The only pain I feel is everyone else's." Another barmaid works at the Garrison in season 1, with her own set of talents to help the Peaky Blinders. It's easier to make your next move when the cards are in your favor. TommyxOC
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first Peaky Blinders fanfiction. I started the series last week and binge watched the first 3 seasons and am completely in love! This starts of from the first episode of season 1. I hope you enjoy the first snippet, let me know what you think.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything Peaky Blinders related, the only thing that's mine is my own made up characters.**

 _1919_

Birmingham, England, is as bleak as she thought it would be. No sun, no heat, only smoke and god-awful accents. She arrived only days ago, and she has been looking for work whilst staying at a tavern in town. So far, no luck. But last night she had a dream. In the dream she read a newspaper and saw a photograph of herself smiling, the title of the article read 'HAPPILY EVER AFTER'. When she awoke this morning, she purchased the paper and read it slowly. It was there she found an advertisement for the position of a barmaid at a pub only a few streets away from her lodgings.

'THE GARRISON' Her eyes gazed upwards to the sign of the pub above her before she entered the building and was welcomed by a crowd of men talking loudly and drinking fast. She received some glances as she sauntered through the crowd, making her way to the bar.

There was one man frantically handing out beers and spirits whilst deciphering who was shouting their next orders. She contemplated for only a moment before making her way around the bar and taking orders from men on the other side.

The older barman only noticed her when she had served five men in the time it took him to serve three. "Who the hell are you?" he shouted while giving a man a pint.

"The new barmaid, sir." She replied coolly while smiling at a group of men who winked at her as she took their orders.

"I don't have a barmaid." He shouted from his end of the bar.

She flipped her hair over one shoulder, smirking in the barman's direction as I she expertly poured two whiskeys without watching. "You do now, sir." She winked before turning back to her customers as the older man chuckled.

"We'll talk after the lunch rush dies down. Keep at it for the mean time."

The following hour and a half went by smoothly and before she knew it the bar was emptied, and the barman was staring at her as she wiped down the tables.

"You can work your way around a bar, that's for sure." He chucked, crossing his arms but sighed heavily as he took her appearance in. "You know these areas can get pretty rough. This ain't a fancy big city like what I'm sure you're used to."

She stopped her cleaning and leaned her bottom against the table with a loud huff. "Look mate, I grew up in Australia. I've lived in 'big fancy cities' and I've lived in shittier towns than this one, I assure you. I need a job, and you've seen I can do this one. Faster than you, might I add." She ended with a wink and a laugh.

"The names Harry. What's your name then, sweetheart?"

"Opal." She smiled softly as they eyed one another up from her seat on the table and his stance behind the bar.

Harry squinted his eyes together slightly, only for a moment, as if he was now questioning himself before he gave her the answer she knew she was going to get. "You'd best watch that smart tongue whilst working though, love. You'll either make the fellas angry or wanting of you. And there's a few men in these parts a girl like yourself doesn't want either reaction."

He leaned his elbows onto the bar top. "'Av you ever heard of the Peaky Blinders?" She frowned at the name, causing Harry to laugh openly. "Take a seat, love. I'll give you some history on the town before the fellas come in for a pint after work."

' _You have your mothers common sense and your father's devilment. I can see them fighting. Let your mother win'_

Polly's words echoed through Tommy's head as they had been all afternoon since they spoke in the church about the guns that are now in his possession and his responsibility.

' _I can see them fighting'_

If only she knew the extent to his inner battles. These days the only thing that waves a white flag between his ears is the thick smoke through his pipe at night to give him a false peace in a haze of opium. But tonight, he wanted rum. Lots of it before he sank into his smoky bed.

He enters the Garrison with a lit cigarette and goes straight to the concealed room to the side where he and the Peaky Blinders often made themselves comfortable. He didn't need to look to see the pub was slowing down for the night, he could hear the growing silence.

He opened the window that connects to the bar and was greeted with a woman's figure a few metres away, crouched to the floor and picking up pieces of a broken glass.

Harry glided past the girl making his way to Tommy. "What can I get you, Tommy?"

"Bottle of rum." He stated, his eyes not meeting Harry's as he watched the woman who was slowly standing, turning curiously to meet his eyes. "Who's this then?" he asked as he took a drag of his cigarette.

"New barmaid, started today." Harry looked back at the girl who walked closer in the men's direction and placed the broken glass into a small trash can.

"What's your name?" Tommy's voice came out harsher than intended, his tone never quite reaching interest but more feigned amusement.

"Opal." The girl replied, Tommy stared a moment longer.

"Where is that accent from?" he asked as Harry grabbed a glass and began pouring a rum for him.

"Here and there." She responded as she pulled a cigarette out that was hidden behind her ear and long dark hair. Tommy lit a match and offered the flame to her mouth.

"Australian she is." Harry offered as his eyes darted cautiously between the two.

Tommy flicked the match to the ground, landing dangerously close to the girl's feet and took a swig of his rum. "Country of criminals." Tommy scoffed and turned his back on the two.

He was one step towards the table and chairs when he heard the Australian speak again, "It takes one to know one." Tommy stopped mid step for a moment, not sure if he wanted to smile at the girl or ask her to repeat her fucking comment. He decided on turning back around and caught Harry glaring at the girl, whose eyes were comfortably staring back into his own.

"Sorry, Tommy. I heard Australian's have a tongue on them…" Harry tried to joke but neither of the two looked at him. "I can find a new barmaid if you wish, Tommy."

Tommy's eyes and hers were locked in a battle, and she wouldn't back down. It was then he realised that the battle in his mind had quietened for those few moments. She tapped the ash of her cigarette and the corners of her lips turned upwards, only slightly.

"Harry…" Tommy slowly withdrew his eyes from the girl and glanced at the barman for a split second before turning on his heels once again and walking to his seat. "Grab the girl a glass, seems she'll be my company for the night."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for everyone who favourited, followed, and reviewed. I'm glad you guys are interested. Sorry I did not update quicker, I have been traveling a lot and everything's been well and truly hectic. I was planning on this chapter being longer but I'm really tired and would rather at least get this scene out than nothing at all. I hope you guys enjoy, let me know what you think.**

The two had sat in a silence for a whole drink now but Opal was damned if she'd break the quiet first. She realises sometimes her life would be a little less complicated if she'd simply shut her mouth, but she honestly can't help herself sometimes. Harry had warned her only hours before hand of the Peaky Blinders and how to stay of the radar as much as possible. Yet here she was, drinking rum with the one man she should not have met formally.

"What's your real name?" Tommy spoke, taking the last gulp of his drink and started pouring another one, topping hers up as he did so.

"Opal."

"I said your real name."

She smiled as she lowered her head, "You are as smart as they say then." He stared at her blankly, waiting for an answer. She sighed before rearranging her position and lifting her left leg underneath her bottom. "It's Adeline."

"And why do you go by Opal?" he probed, never breaking eye contact.

"A new country, a new life, a new name. My father used to call me Opal, since he was an opal miner and found his first gem worth enough to support the family the day I was born." She sized him up from his shoes, slacks, vest to his statue like expression and marble eyes. "Why the intrigue?"

"Did your husband die?" he ignored her question and glanced down at her ring finger that was clenched around her glass.

"What makes your think I was married?"

"You've got sun kissed skin and then only lighter patch is rimmed around that finger," he leaned forward and tapped his finger on hers.

"Sun kissed?" she laughed. "I'm Australian, everyone is 'sun kissed'." She smiled and looked down at her finger, which did indeed have a white band around it, contemplating before responding. "I was never married. I was engaged."

"Again I ask, did he die?"

"Yes."

"The war?"

"Yes." Her eyes reached his. He searched to see the glimmer of a mourning lover, the flash of a glistening eye but got nothing in return. Only a soft smile. "One of the fortunate, wouldn't you say?" He frowned slightly at her. "You left a part of yourself dead on the battlefield, did you not? Sometimes it's better to die than to live half full."

"What makes you say I was in the war?"

"My cards told me I'd meet a soldier soon." She shrugged, taking another sip of her drink. "Your eyes also hold up a wall, luckily I see through them as if they were a window."

He stared a moment longer before grabbing his cigarettes and offering one to her after placing one in his mouth. "What cards?"

"The tarots. I read them each day. It makes life simpler to know what's going to happen."

"You're a gypsy?"

"No. But my fiancée was, well his family was. I lived with them through the war and learnt a few things."

"And why am I the soldier you were supposed to meet? Don't know about where you're from but most the fella's around these parts were in the war."

"The cards told me I'd meet a soldier who was still fighting. You're Tommy Shelby of the Peaky Blinders, that tells me you're still battling." She smirked at him as she inhaled her cigarette. "Sometimes I hear little whispers in my head when I do tarot, or when I meet someone, that tells me secrets. I'm hearing them with you. Would you like me to tell you?"

"I sometimes hear whispers as well, mine are telling me you might just be a mad woman."

"That might be completely true, but it doesn't mean I'm not also right. Wait here a moment, I'll collect my cards from my bag."

Opal entered the room with a small black satchel and sat down beside Tommy again. She carefully took out her cards which had intricate gold patterns on top of black on the back of the card. "Give me your hands." She ordered, her hands held out to him.

"Are we on a date?" he scoffed with a click of his tongue.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed his hands from where they lay on his thighs and held them in hers as she closed her eyes. "I need to connect thoroughly with your energy." Tommy arched an eyebrow and watched her eyes move beneath her closed lids before a smile broke out onto her face. "You are interesting, aren't you?"

Within minutes Opal had shuffled the cards and cut the deck into two piles and allowed Tommy to choose between the two, she then let him shuffle which he did quickly without breaking eye contact with her. She then placed 7 cards into a pyramid shape. She studied the cards for a moment before smiling up at him. "What do you see?"

"Aren't you supposed to be reading them to me?" he argued, taking a long drag of his smoke.

"By you telling me what you see I can read them more carefully to you." She explained slowly. He glared at her but saw a slight twinkle in his blue eyes. She was pushing her limits with this one, but she hasn't hit the line in the sand. Yet, at least.

He let his eyes pass over the cards briskly. Three of the seven had a horse in them, either a man riding one or battling on one of simply in the back ground. "I see a lot of horses." He stated unamused.

"And you run a betting system do you not?" she asked.

"Harry told you that."

"Indeed, he did, Tommy," she laughed as she stared at the cards. "Stop acting like I'm trying to trick you into some fake magic. I'm trying to help you." She motioned her fingers in a dancing motion around her head. "The whispers are telling me to help you. You're going on a short journey soon. To make a purchase. A horse perhaps?"

Tommy continued staring, refusing to give away any response. He was going to the Lee family in a few days in hopes of getting a good horse from the gypsys. "You're going to be brisk, let your rage win out over your thoughts." She glanced up at him and smiled again, as if she could sense that he thought she was full of shit. "I know you don't believe me, but you'll see. The cards are never wrong, therefor I am never wrong."

"What else can you tell me about myself then, Adeline?" he said, leaning forwards slightly.

She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, studying his face before reshuffling the deck and laying out a few more cards in front of him. After a short study of them she continued. "You're a good man that was put into hell and became a monster. You don't believe love comes to men of mayhem, but you're mistaken. You have a woman coming into your life, she will change everything."

"Are you trying to tell me you want to fuck me?" he asked, arching his eyebrow.

"Tommy, darling, if I wanted to fuck you my skirt would be hiked up around my waste already." She laughed loudly, placing her hand to her chest as she gasped for breath.

"Are you laughing at me?" He asked after a moment.

"I'm laughing with you!" She giggled back. He then realised he'd let out a soft chuckle and still had a slightly smile on his face. He slowly let it sink away before his face fell back to stone.

"You can pretend it wasn't there all you want, I saw a little smile." She said lightly as she lightly touched his cheek for just a second. She then stood, collecting her tarots with one hand, "I should leave, I'm a working woman now. No more drinking all evening and sleeping all day in a gypsy tent." She laughed again before she felt Tommy grab onto her hand and slowly tug her towards him.

"And what if I want to fuck you?"

She stared at him cautiously before arching an eyebrow, turning on her heel and slipping her hand out of his. "I'll have to ask my cards if that's a good decision."

Tommy watched as she sauntered out of the room, slightly glancing at him with a small smile as she opened the door. He leaned back in his chair and grabbed his glass of rum. He still wasn't sure if she was simply just fucking crazy.


	3. Chapter 3

Days pass since Opal and Tommy had met and she has seen him a handful of times in and out of the Garrison. She couldn't help but think about him whilst doing her jobs around the pub, or whilst walking home at the end of the day or once even in her dreams; a particularly raunchy adaption to their drinks the other night, where she had said 'Yes. I do want to fuck you' instead of her laughing it off. That dream left her irreparably agitated the following day.

She recalls seeing him meet Grace the day after their meeting. She'd watched the two with a sly smile as Tommy asked Grace if she were a whore, and if she wasn't then she was in the wrong place. Grace had a stunned expression the following twenty minutes. It was true, she didn't belong or fit in in this smoky town or this smoky pub. Opal did not need her tarots to tell her that, though the cards backed up what Opal felt.

Grace had come in to pub asking for the barmaid position a day after Opal had. Opal had walked in from the back-stock room as Grace sung to Harry with an angelic expression to match her beautiful voice. She had been trying to convince Harry that her voice could pull men apart whom were fighting, and this would make up for the fact she seemed out of place in the beige colouring of The Garrison. As Grace sung Opal began twirling her hips and patting her feet to the melody of Grace's voice whilst she picked up empty glasses from table tops. Grace's voice had stuttered only slightly as she watched the girl dance, but Harry didn't notice as well as Opal did.

"I'm sorry, mam. But the position really has already been filled." Harry had shrugged apologetically as he glanced to Opal who was still slightly swaying as she hummed now to herself.

"Please. I really need this position." Grace begged.

"Oh, come on Harry," Opal sighed dramatically as she danced her way over to the other woman, placing her fingertips underneath Graces chin, lifting it up slightly and staring into her eyes. Grace stiffened. "She truly does need this position." Graces eyes told her all she needed to know. "Would you want to send a beautiful woman home to cry? Her voice is as beautiful as her, the fella's will fall to their knees." Opal smirked, not separating her fingers from Graces face until she saw Grace's lip shake slightly. She truly was beautiful, and Grace thought Opal was too. Opal just wasn't sure if the Irish woman was envious or attracted.

Harry sighed heavily from his stomach and shook his head, "Alright. But if I can't manage to pay the both of you at some point I'll have to let one of you go."

Grace and Opal got on quite well. Grace was very quiet, compared to Opals bright vocabulary and friendly demeanour to all the men. But they both stared with the eyes of a hawk, and they both listened as intently as an owl. They both appreciated people, and all their little secrets, it seemed. Opal simply because it is what she was good at. She read the tarot, so she could expect the unexpected, she reads people for the same reason. But Grace, Opal didn't understand why she was so interested. Not yet, at least.

One evening Grace had been singing proudly to the men at the bar, who bellowed their voices along with hers. Opal danced along with the voices as she swirled her body from one man to another, everyone joyous, when abruptly all the men stopped singing. Only Graces voice sang in an ocean of silence. Opal turned her body around, one of the men still clasping at her hip though he had stopped dancing. Across the room, at the entrance, was Tommy and a few other men.

Tommy's eyes were fixated on Graces, slightly darting towards Opal and to the hand at her waste before back to the singer as she finished her verse.

"We haven't had singing in here since the war." Smiled Harry who was beside Tommy.

Tommy stared Harry down and replied softly, but Opal could hear his rage. No. She could see it. As if it softly rippled of him in waves of energy. "Why do you think that is, Harry?"

The men in the bar had slowly but surely sifted out of the bar as the singing vanished and before she knew it there were only a few drunken men humming softly at one table. Grace was cleaning around them with a stern, but soft, expression on her face.

The side window opened as Opal walked behind the bar and she saw the face of a man she had not yet met. He had soft blue eyes that were almost identical to Tommy's if it weren't for the fact they were as open as a meadow, his every thought and emotion exposed to the world. At that moment it was interest.

"Bottle of rum, love." His voice was deep, as harsh in accent and tone as Tommy's, but it was sweetened by the smile on his lips as he looked her up and down. As she set the bottle down in front of him he asked, "You new around here then?"

She smiled and leaned her elbows on the window sill, her face inches away from his. "Yes, I am."

He smiled, his eyes darting from her lips to her eyes. "What your name, love?"

"Opal." Her eyes slightly moved behind his ear to see Tommy sitting at the table staring at her. His face was blank, but his eyes glimmered with amusement.

Within seconds, before the young man could reply, another man was by his side. The two were arm to arm trying to fill as much space of the tiny window as they could, a childish game among two grown men. "You're the prettiest gem I've seen in these parts for a while." The new man spoke. You could not see his smile on his lips since they were covered by an impressive moustache, but his cheeks rose upwards.

"That's Arthur." The first boy arched his eyebrows in the other mans, Arthurs, direction. "My name's…"

"John," Opal smiled, her eyes darting between the two men. "Everyone knows who the Shelby brothers are." She winked at the two who both chuckled to themselves with a prideful smile.

"So, you know who this fella behind us is then?" Arthur threw his head in the direction of the table where Tommy know longer sat. He was now leant against the table while lighting a cigarette, his eyes meeting hers.

"We've met." He stated bluntly.

Opal leaned forward on her elbows noticing how the two men who had now parted slightly so there was a gap between them, so Tommy was in full view, both stared at her chest where her blouse now separated slightly at the buttons from strain. "Tommy's upset with me you see."

The two men glanced back at their brothers with smirks. "And why's that, love?"

"He didn't like my answer to one of his questions." She playfully smiled at Tommy who did not return an expression. The other brothers looked between the two for more information but neither wavered. Of course, she was talking about his proposition and how she waved him off saying she had to ask her cards, which she did. They were going to fuck, as he so politely phrased it. But not yet. There were a few mountains to climb first.

"Not upset. And I recall you said you had to think about it. So, I've not yet gotton an answer." He tapped the ash of his cigarette.

"Well how about we convince your new _friend._ " Arthur chuckled and turned back towards the table to take a seat. "Come have a drink with us, love."

John made his way back to the table also and Opal glanced at Tommy who stared at her a moment longer before turning his back on her. "Bring a bottle of rum would you, _Opal._ "

They sat drinking for hours it seemed. She decided Tommy was a bore and his brothers were far more entertaining and lively, which Arthur and John cheered to. Arthur had pulled her in for a side hug and kissed her on the temple joyfully as John pointed his finger laughing at Tommy. Some men would become jealous, but Opal could see he was amused. He knew she was still focused on him even when laughing with his brothers.

After that whenever the two other brothers came in they both would lean over the counter to kiss her cheek in greeting. Sometimes people need days, months or even years to become comfortable with someone. To become friends. Opal had a way of quickening the process, and she did with those boys. It had only taken her those few hours of drinking for them to become close. They had laughed and drank and swapped memories. But neither of them flirted with her. Not crassly, at least. It seems because of Tommy. He need only give them a silent glare when he was unhappy with a gesture or word and they would stop. It made Opal smile coyly to herself and made her heart flutter slightly.

She didn't need to read the cards to know she was about to fall. Or to know she probably shouldn't.

 **AN  
I'm so sorry for the long wait for this chapter I have been very busy. I'll try to update more often though. Also, this was supposed to be a longer chapter, but I wanted to get this one up since it had been so long. I hope you guys like it! Also, I appreciate all the reviews, it's so lovely hearing people's thoughts on the story. But one person did write a spoiler for season 4 and I haven't yet watched it, so if everyone could please not post anything about season 4 that would make me so happy!**


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